The Finish

With a time of 9 days 4 hours 29 minutes 26 seconds the Iditarod is over for the winner Dallas Seavey, the youngest winner ever. (He actually turned 25 on the trail.) The second place winner was Aliy Zirkle following exactly one hour behind him. Third place went to Ramey Smith, about 35 minutes behind her. The rest of the racers are strung out over the Alaska wilderness and will arrive over the next few days.

The dash down the snow covered main street with crowds of well-wishers shouting out greetings was picture perfect. (The crews spent most of yesterday afternoon hauling in snow from outside of town and grading it down to a perfect smoothness.) After a quick hug to his wife and baby, Dallas, ever polite, turned to the waiting microphones and excused himself. "I need to say hello to these guys first." He then took a minute to give a quick rub and hug to each dog.

When asked about his strategy for the race. He told them that he had planned every step of the race to utilize the strong points of his dogs and to optimize every advantage he could to shave minutes on his time. Observers had noticed that his check point routine and feeding schedule was a dance with no wasted movements or lost time. He said that he had trained running against his dad and his better team. He had learned that by shaving minutes off of the feeding routine, dog care (hustling not sacrificing care) and check point stops he was able to make up enough time to catch up with his dad. With this in mind he planned every step of the way to make up time. He also meticulously planned his take over of the lead about 2/3 of the way through the race. In his words, "I'm not sure the front-runners knew who they were racing against." , referring to his feeling of being in control of his race. Although, Aliy led most of the race, once he made his move there was no catching him.

Interestingly, while he has his own kennel, his dogs are still too young to race. So his team was collected from the "second" string from other kennels. Most of his team for this race were rejects of his father. He noted that his team was not the most athletic, fastest, or strongest of the teams so he had to make sure they had the best plan. What he didn't say was that part of the plan was the extreme athleticism and drive of their musher. Dallas ran most of the race in a windbreaker suit jogging alongside the dogs to keep warm in the brutal temperatures. Removing his weight from the sled gave his dogs a little extra power. This running cost him with a severely blistered toe that one of the vet's lanced and bandaged for him toward the last of the race.

All of the racers have endured extreme physical punishment as they forge across the Alaska topography. The have walked, climbed and pushed through terrain from river valleys, to mountains to wind swept coasts, crossing rivers and on a couple of occasions frozen portions of the Bering Sea. They have done this in blizzards, drifts of new snow, brutal wind, and temperatures as low as -30 degrees. They have endured exhaustion, sleep deprivation, injuries, and hunger (Mushers are careful to feed the dogs on the trail but don't prepare food for themselves. They eat at check-points.) All of this is done with fierce determination but cheerful cooperation and friendship at the check-points and layovers. There you will see mushers sharing stories, offering advice, laughing and enjoying the moment.

With the front-runners home it is to be noted that the middle pack of racers have been sitting the last day or so in Shaktoolik waiting out a ground blizzard with winds of 35 mph , visibility of about 50 feet, and wind chills of -30. I can only imagine the conditions that would cause these hardened mushers to just wait it out. Consider that they are accustomed to spending days and nights on a trail in a climate that would cause our state to close down and demand a national emergency response! I salute these men, women, and dogs that thrive in an area that demands that they be strong and resilient.